Kim frowned. ‘What happened the other night?’
Carlo was looking at Zan, his expression reassuring. ‘There’s no need to be jumpy, cara mia. No one is going to hurt you.’ There was a hint of steel under his warm, male tones. ‘We will drink our coffee and then I will take you back to your flat myself.’
She loved the fact that he was so protective.
Glancing at his powerful shoulders, she suddenly had a disturbing memory of him naked in the shower and, remembering his raw, male sexuality, she felt excitement spiral up through her body. He had an incredible physique. It was hardly surprising that he wasn’t intimidated by anyone.
‘Will someone please tell me what’s going on?’ Kim glanced between them with a mixture of concern and frustration.
‘Someone attacked me the other night,’ Zan said flatly. ‘Carlo rescued me. It’s how we met.’
Kim stared at her in horror. ‘Someone attacked you?’ She lifted a hand to her mouth. ‘Oh, my God! Were you hurt?’
Zan shrugged and shook her head. ‘Not really.’
Kim looked at Carlo in dismay. ‘And your eye—is that how…?’
Carlo laughed. ‘No. That was Zan. She was fighting like a wildcat when I got to her. She mixed me up with the attackers.’
Kim blinked in disbelief. ‘And what were you saying about someone following you?’
Zan put down her coffee-cup and glanced across the restaurant again. ‘Every time I turn around, that man is behind me.’ She lifted her chin and frowned. ‘In fact, I’m going to stop being so pathetic and confront him. I want to know why he’s following me.’
She rose to her feet but Carlo put a hand on her arm.
‘Sit down.’ His voice was calm but firm. ‘Finish your coffee. I’ll deal with it.’
She opened her mouth to argue and then closed it again, seeing the sense in his suggestion.
After all, if the man following her realised that she was with Carlo then he might think twice about following her.
Carlo strode over to Matt and sat down in a vacant seat, his back to the two women.
‘You’re losing your touch,’ Carlo told Matt grimly, his brows locked together in a frown. ‘She knows you’re following her.’
‘I guessed as much.’ Matt rubbed a hand over his jaw and looked apologetic. ‘Sorry. I underestimated her. The girl’s been looking over her shoulder every two minutes and frankly I didn’t expect her to be so jumpy.’
‘Nor me.’ Carlo felt his insides twist. He hated to think that Zan was frightened. She’d successfully concealed the fact from him.
‘Whatever happened the other night obviously freaked her out,’ Matt said thoughtfully. ‘On her way to work this morning she looked over her shoulder at least eight times and she didn’t slow down until she walked inside those hospital gates. She was better at lunchtime but she was still keeping an eye on her surroundings. She dashed to Kelly’s house so quickly I didn’t realise she’d seen me.’
‘Damn.’ Carlo was frowning but Matt gave a shrug.
‘Actually, I think it’s probably a good thing that she’s alert in the circumstances.’
‘Alert, maybe, but I don’t wa
nt her frightened,’ Carlo growled. ‘I hadn’t even noticed that she was nervous.’
Matt shrugged. ‘She probably isn’t when she’s with you. It’s just when she’s on her own.’
‘Well, you’re going to have to keep a low profile now,’ Carlo pointed out, dragging his fingers through his hair and letting out a long sigh. ‘Maybe we’d better get one of the other guys to follow her.’
Matt lifted an eyebrow and Carlo shook his head. ‘No, you’re right. Bad idea. At least I know that if she’s with you nothing’s going to happen to her. Maybe I should tell her the truth.’
The longer it went on, the worse he felt about the fact he was deceiving her and he knew he was going to be faced with a major dilemma soon.
Could he make love to a woman who didn’t know who he was?